A Band Of Brothers
by Nightbuddy
Summary: All he wants is a band. A band to stand behind him. A band of brothers. Not a father who abuses him, not a crush who completely ignores, not a bully who makes his life hell. What happens when he meets a complete stranger. Suddenly, his life turns around. But Harrison has spent the last 18 years of his life in hell, why should it change now? Modern HTTYD
1. Why?

**Disclaimer: HTTYD belongs to Dreamworks and Cressida Cowell. All rights belong to them and the only thing that belongs to me is the storyline and a few of my characters. (No matter how many times I ask for Toothless for Christmas)**

 **Hey guys, I'm Nightbuddy and this is my second story. It's a Modern Version of HTTYD. It will mostly focus on Harrison (Hiccup) There will be Hiccstrid in later chapters (Possible Lemons) Those who have read the original may notice a few changes, but not massive ones. The major one is the story taking a more 'M' rating. This chapter was meant to be posted on the 24** **th** **Feb, but I was too lazy and forgot about. If you would like to read the original, just visit my profile and you'll find it right there. Any way enough with the boring stuff.**

It was Harrisons first day back at Berk High after the holidays, he groaned as the school came into sight. It was a two kilometre walk between the school and his house, so Harrison normally walked. Harrisons education was coming to an end. He'd completed his HSC last term, so he wasn't really doing anything except stay out of his dad's way. Berk High was the typical school. The rich kids wore smart, causal looking clothes, while the poorer kids looked like tramps in comparison. Berk Highs biggest bully was Scott Jorgenson and his gang, which was made up of twins, Rachel and Tom Thorston, The gentle giant, Frank Ingerman and the angel, Astrid Hofferson. This group had been picking on Harrison for as long as he could remember. He remembered when Frank and himself were best friends. That was a long time ago, but Frank had been Harrisons first and only friend. It was only when Frank discovered a talent for football, that Scott payed any attention to him and eventually he abandoned Harrison and joined Scott's gang of bullies.

As Harrison approached the school gates, he noticed Scott leaning up against it. His gang stood behind him.

"Harrison my feathered friend, how have the holidays been?" Scott said grinning. "I've missed you very much. I didn't see you in the holidays. Where were you."

"I was away," mumbled Harrison.

"Did you miss us this summer?" Scott asked, slamming his fist into his hand. "You better of."

Harrison stayed quiet and averted his eyes. Scott grabbed his wrist and bent back his thumb.

"Did you bring us any presents back from your holiday?" Scott asked, tightening his grip until Harrisons face twisted up in pain.

"No," Harrison gasped.

"That's not nice, I think you deserve a slap."

Scott let Harrisons wrist go and clocked him around the fac. It wasn't hard. It was mainly done for humiliation. Scott gave Harrison a shove and told him to piss off. As Harrison stumbled away, on the verge of tears, he looked back on Scott's gang, and saw that everyone except Astrid was laughing. Just little things like that gave Harrison the boost that got him through the day.

After finishing their HSC's, the year 12 students didn't have much to do at school. They either sat studying for their Uni courses, or in little groups gossiping or flexing their muscles. Harrison sat alone at the back of the classroom. It was a very laid-back atmosphere and their teacher, Bertha Brown, or more commonly known as Big Boobied Bertha, sat chatting to her favourite pupils. Astrid was one of them.

"So, Astrid," Bertha said. "A dicky bird tells me you plan to go into nursing after school. Would I be correct in saying that?"

Astrid laughed, throwing her golden hair over shoulder. "Miss, I would love to know where you get this information. But yes, I'll go to university and get my Diploma of Nursing or the Certificate IV of Nursing and then I'll become a qualified Enrolled Nurse. It shouldn't take more than 12 – 18 months."

"Any idea where you'd like to be posted?"

"I would love to work in St Vincent's Hospital, Sydney, but its one of the most popular."

Harrison didn't hear the rest of the conversion because he suddenly zoned out, imagining ways to get Astrid to notice him. Most of them included him stumbling into the hospital with a pickaxe sticking out of his back. He fell back to planet earth, when Scott's voice shot throughout the room.

"I think you'd make an excellent nurse, babe. Wanna practise your mouth to mouth on me one day?"

Astrid shuddered. Before answering the question that Harrison didn't hear. "I'll study at the Australian Macquarie university then just come back on weekends and work at the pub 'Isle of Berk'. That should pay the bills."

Harrison had stumbled over a rock in the pavement and skinned his knee while walking home. His knee stung as he approached his house. His heart sank as he saw his fathers 1967 Shelby Mustang in the driveway. His father wasn't a bad person, but since Harrisons mother died, Stoick had turned to alcohol to cover his pain and more or less neglected his only son. The alcohol wasn't the only thing that fuelled Stoick's anger. As the mayor of Berk, his stress levels were through the roof all the time. Being the mayor, Stoick was away a lot and worked long hours. The result of that was Harrison spending his childhood alone.

The door creaked and groaned as Harrison opened it.

"Dad I'm home," He sang, walking to the fridge to grab a lemonade.

An aluminium beer can hit Harrison hard as Stoick broke into a low growling noise. Harrison looked up and he saw that his father was on the phone.

Stoick rolled his eyes and scowled at his son. He scowled so hard, it could have sunk a battleship. Harrison cringed and walked into the spacious lounge room. As he flicked on the television, Stoick rumbled into the lounge room and exploded at his son.

"Why Hiccup, why? Why do you always have to screw things up for me? That was an important phone call from work and you walked in and screwed it up for me. I'm hosting a meeting here tonight and I would appreciate it if you weren't here to screw things up in front of all my work colleagues."

"Look dad, I'm sorr-," Harrison started.

"Sorry is not good enough Hiccup."

Stoick smiled nastily as he ripped his belt from his trousers. "Bare your back and lean forward," he ordered. The only thing to lean on was the couch and Stoick placed his son's hands on it. Harrison looked over his shoulder and saw that his father was preparing to use the buckle end of the belt. The pain would be worse than usual, but it was his father's coldness that brought him out in Goosebumps.

"Look at the wall, I can't bear to look at you," Stoick shouted, before taking a run up and lashing Harrisons bear back. "You'll suffer like this until you learn some respect."

The metal tore a huge gash in Harrisons back. His legs buckled and his knees hit the bare boards with a dull thud.

"Stand," Stoick ordered, as he loomed over his son. "On top of all of this, you're a weakling. If I had made as much fuss as you did when he whipped me, your grandfather would have started from scratch."

"Please!" Harrison sobbed, holding his hands over his eyes as Stoick crouched down and punched his son in between the shoulder blades, before spitting in his face.

"You just wait for what's in store if that ever happens again," Stoick grunted as he stood up and reluctantly threaded the belt back into his jeans. "Now I have meeting so get the fuck outta my face you fucking hiccup!"

Harrison had quickly packed a bag and ran as fast as he could away from his house. He had no where to go and no idea what to do. It suddenly dawned on him that he was practically finished school, had absolutely no idea what he was going to do after that, his father had kicked him out of the house with no place to go and he had no friends. His life was a mess. He considered what his father called him in the lounge room. A hiccup? Surely not. Scott and his gang had called Harrison a hiccup thousands of times, but his father calling him one was a completely different story. His back ached where his father had struck him and his stomach rumbled from not eating since lunch time. It was starting to turn dark and Harrison had no money on him. He figured he would have to rough it tonight. It would be tough, but God gives his hardest challenges to his strongest soldiers.

"Am I really a hiccup?"

 **Annnnnnnnnnnnnnd that's a wrap! Finally! Funny thing, its 5 months since I promised to upload this chapter, but I actually only wrote it this afternoon. I had the first paragraph, but it just sat there for 5 months. Oh well. Don't hate me too much. Anyway, what do we think? Improvement on the original? Do we like the new Stoick? Do we like Big Boobied Bertha? DO WE LIKE CHEESE?! PLEASE REVIEW! Leave your thoughts, leave a way you think I can improve on it, leave a link to a YouTube clip with LOL cats! Completely up to you. JUST REVIEW! Seriously, please do.**

 **As a quick note, Harrison doesn't have Toothless yet in this story.**

 **Also as the story progresses, I will require some characters. Now, instead of racking my brains thinking up characters, I am extending my branches and asking YOU to upload a review and comment a character profile and if you do, there's a good chance it will appear. If I keep to my schedule, your character will appear in chapter 6. So, let's upload these character profiles. All I want is:**

 *****SPOLIERS*** (If you've read the original, you pretty much know what's going to happen.)**

\- **A name**

\- **A Nickname**

\- **An age**

\- **The relationship to Harrison**

\- **A short brief about their Childhood**

\- **Their relationship status**

\- **And how they got recruited into the army**


	2. Hard Times

**Hello and welcome back chapter two of 'A Band of Brothers'. I'd like to do a quick shout-out to;**

 **-LordPublisher**

 **\- x1tears1x**

 **\- GostRider**

 **For their excellent reviews. Now this chapter introduces a lot of new characters and idea's. If you've read the original, you'll notice a few copied idea's. If you haven't read it, I recommend you go check it out. But warning…. SPOLIERS. Anyway, let's get into this:**

Harrison wondered if he just made the biggest mistake of his life. He dreamed of running away from his father for a long time, but his father kicking him out was something completely different. He speculated if he could survive the night. The sun had disappeared beneath the horizon about an hour ago and the temperature was dropping rapidly and Harrisons skinny build meant he had no fat to provide body warmth. He thought about going back and apologising to his father, but his father did call him a weakling. Maybe if he toughed tonight out, he might earn some of his father's respect. 'It wasn't his fault,' Harrison thought. 'I'm always winding him up. I have to try and be a better son.'

Harrison's back ached as he swept a thin layer of ice off the park bench. It was so cliché, but it was better than sleeping on the ground. If he had money, he could have paid for a motel room, but all he had in his bag was a spare set of clothes, his school clothes and a spare set of shoes. Harrison sighed as he laid down on the bench. He looked up at the millions and millions of stars. 'Why pay $200 for a 5 five motel room, when you can have a million-star park bench for free,' Harrison joked. He looked up again. Just imagining he was one of the million. He was quite bright and knew that each star was a sun, and each sun have planets orbiting it, and maybe some of those planets would support life. He would love to play such a vital role in someone's life, just as a sun plays its quintessential role in supporting life in its solar system. Suddenly Harrison saw a bright point of light streaking across the sky that dies as suddenly as it started. He realises that it's a shooting star and closes his eyes to make a wish.

"I wish for a band. A band to stand behind me. Not a father who abuses me, not a crush who ignores me and not a bully who makes my life hell. All I want is a band to help me. A band of brothers…"

* * *

Harrison awoke with a start with birds singing around him. He looked at his watch. 7:56. School starts in an hour. Harrison felt stiff as he rolled off the park bench and stood up. His fingers explored the wound his father gave him yesterday afternoon. It was still sore and tender. But the physical scars were nothing compared to the mental ones. His clothes were covered in morning dew but his school clothes in his backpack were fine. His body cracked and groaned as he stretched and started to walk. If he ever had to do this again, he would probably take the softer ground. As he approached a public toilet, he noticed how he looked to someone who would walk past. His hair was all messed up, he had dried blood over his face and he looked like a psychopath rather than an average school student. He figured he could at least try and improve his appearance before school.

He opened the door to the toilet and walked in. It was a mess. Dirt, mud and other untold crap covered one side of the toilet to the other. He didn't even want to know what the smell was or where it was coming from. The more disturbing thing was the smell wasn't coming from the toilet. The mirror, like everything else, was covered in graffiti and Harrison had to strain his eyes to see what he looked like. It didn't look good. Dried blood splattered his face and he had a black eye starting to appear. He explored the tender area around his eye. When he was little, he had always wanted one, he thought it would make him look cool. Thinking about his childhood was always painful. He missed his mother and his father never abused him when they were a happy family. But Valka's death plunged Stoick into a depression which he never recovered from. Harrison sighed again. He took his shirt off and thrust it under the tap. As soon as it was wet enough, he took it out and wringed it out and began cleaning the worst of the dried blood off his face. There was nothing he could do about his eye but he made a half decent effort to tame his hair. He then took his school clothes out of his bag and his shoes and put them on. By the end of it, he looked completely different to the psychopath who had walked in. He looked at his watch. 8:35. 20 minutes until school started. He might as well start walking. Hopefully Scott wouldn't be at school. It was only morning, but Harrison felt drained and he couldn't stand a confrontation. He sighed for a third time as he started to walk to school.

Harrison hated Berk High School. He'd been here for 13 years. From kindergarten to year 12. He knew his schooling was coming to an end and however pleased he was to be leaving, a small part of him was sad. There were memories everywhere. From the locker Scott had stuffed him into in year 5 to the fence that was half his size he had to squeezed through when Scott chased him. As Harrison turned down the hallway, a shadow loomed above him. He stopped in his tracks when he realised it was Scott.

"Hey useless, missed me?"

"Not a bit Scott," Harrison replied, trying not to inhale Scott's foul breath.

"You see Harrison," Scott said as his hand dived into his jacket and extracted a packet of brightly coloured skittles. "I seem to have some skittles."

Scott ripped the packet open while simultaneously grabbing hold of Harrison. Scott tipped his head back and poured the skittles decadently into his mouth. About half of the skittles made it between Scott's lips; the remainder bounced off his face and clattered down to the tiled floor.

"Here's the. . ." Scott said, as he struggled with a mouth crammed full of skittles. "The thing is, Harrison, I seem to have lost my appetite. He gobbled the multicoloured clump of chewed-up skittles and broke into an evil smile.

"I tell you what Harrison, why don't you eat them?"

Harrison looked desperately up and down the hallway, hoping for a teacher to save his butt.

"I insist," Scott grinned. "Eat them up or else I'll be seeing you outside of school again."

A tense crowd had gathered around Scott and Harrison, including Astrid. The crowd started to chant. "Eat, eat, eat, eat. . . "

Harrison looked close to tears.

"I'll batter you Harrison," Scott said threatened.

The rest of the gang closed in so Harrison could smell their breath. Everyone quietened down as Harrison took the blob of spit-soaked skittles from Scott beefy hand. He opened his mouth and raised it to his lips.

"Chomp it down, Hiccup."

The blob had almost entered Harrison's lips. He felt ashamed of himself. He was about to eat the skittles when he realised he didn't have to be Scott's bitch.

As the blob was almost entering his mouth, Harrison thrust his palm forward and screamed out; "Bollocks!"

The group backed up, but Harrison got Scott in the chin with the blob, then mashed it down the front of Scott's shirt leaving a multicoloured trail. Everyone was stunned by this turn of events and Harrison used this to his advantage, surging through the crowd. But Scott wasn't happy.

"You can run, useless," Scott shouted, as he stared aghast at his stained shirt. "But when I catch you, your dead."

Parts of the crowds started laughing. Then Scott completely lost it. He started lashing out and going psycho.

"What are you all staring at? Get out of my face, you dicks, or I'll mash you up."

Then he turned and saw some of his own mates were laughing.

"What's your problem?" Scott shouted. "Why'd you let him run off?"

The gang all shrugged and mumbled about being caught off guard.

Astrid Hofferson smiled and turned to her best friend Rachel Thorston.

"Hiccup might be a nerd, but you've got to admire his balls. Taking on Scott like that, I wish him luck."

Rachel laughed as her twin Tom walked over with Frank Ingerman. "He'll need it."

Tom agreed with his twin. "I wouldn't want to be in his shoes when Scott catches up with him..."

* * *

At the bottom of Harrison's locker was a black leather wallet that he had lost in year 7. He quickly flicked through it and found a few notes and coins. He counted them up in his head.

'$30,' he thought quietly. It wasn't enough for a hotel, but it was good enough for a meal. His stomach growled like an angry lion as he shut his locker and walked down the hallway towards the school gates. He was absolutely starving, due to the fact he hadn't eaten since lunch time yesterday. He had to leave school quickly because he knew Scott was on his case. After the fight, Scott was dragged off to the principal's office and was made to sit in there for the rest of the day. He knew Scott would be out for revenge, thanks to the fact that Harrison splattering Scott with chewed up skittles was the only thing people had been talking about all day.

Harrison decided to go grab a meal at the nearest coffee shop or café. As he passed the school gates, a couple of cheers went up. Ranging from 'Nice job, Hiccup mate' to 'Scott's got you marked bruh. Your dead bro!'

Harrison ignored him. Scott had been after him all throughout school. Only now Harrison had humiliated him in front of the school. When Scott caught up with him, he would be in major shit. He had to find a place to lay low for a bit.

* * *

Harrison hadn't really been paying attention to where he had been walking. He had been too caught up in his thoughts. He arrived at a place called 'The Isle of Berk'. The whole place had a very 'Viking' look about it. As he walked in, he noticed the detailed dragon drawings into the deep oak wood. Under the drawings, there looked to be the names of each dragon. One dragon was gigantic. It had what looked like a long snakelike neck and tail, covered in scales. The writing underneath it read 'Monstrous Nightmare'

Harrison raised an eyebrow. This certainly was a peculiar place indeed. He kept walking. As his walk progressed, more dragons appeared. He read their names in his head.

'Hideous Zippleback, Whispering Death, Gronckle, Deadly Nadder.'

He was so caught up, he didn't hear the man come up until he tapped Harrison on the back

"Sorry, sir," Harrison stuttered, as he took in the man's appearance. He had a very authentic wooden peg leg, with dirty blonde hair and a terrific moustache that came down to his chest and deadly blue eyes. Also, where his hand should have been, was a hook. This man was rough.

"Not a problem laddie," He sang. "I'm the owner, Gobber the Belch. Call me Gobber. Welcome to the Isle of Berk. Saw ya admiring the artwork. I'm always on the lookout for staff. Would you be interested?"

Harrison was going to politely refuse Gobbers offer but suddenly he caught a flash of golden hair though the room called 'The Great Hall'. He suddenly made the connection from a conversation yesterday between the teacher and Astrid.

 _'I'll work at the pub 'Isle of Berk' until uni. That should pay the bills.'_

Suddenly Harrison wanted nothing more than the opportunity to work next to his dream girl. He must have had a dazed sort of look on his face because Gobber waved his hand in front of Harrisons and asked:

"Ye alright laddie?"

Harrison snapped out of it.

"Sorry sir," He said. "I would be grateful if I could start working here."

"That's the way laddie," Gobber said looking happy. "I'll go ye uniform and ye paperwork. Just wait ere' for a sec."

As Gobber rushed off, Harrison considered the decision he made. This was a job that would keep him busy until he got his HSC results. After earning a bit of money, he might go on a world trip or a trip round Australia. There was still Scott to worry about, but as long as he kept his head low, he should be right. This was the right decision. Harrison was sure about it. And as a plus, he'd get to work next to Astrid. He heard a clanking sound and whipped his head round. Gobber was clunking towards him holding out his uniform.

"Here you go Laddie. When do ya reckon ye can start?"

Harrison smiled. "How about now?"

Gobber laughed. "That's the spirit laddie. Follow me into me office sign some papers, then I'll get Astrid to show ye round."

"Fantastic," Harrison smiled as he and Gobber walked into the Great Hall together.

 **IT'S A WRAP! (Just imagine me with a giant squid head) IT'S A WRAP! (Star Wars Pun. Never mind) 2500 words, that's almost double the first chapter. Would you rather shorter chapters every week or longer chapters every fortnight? Please review and tell me your thoughts. Anyway, how was that? Better or worst then the first chapter? Like Gobber? Like 'The Isle of Berk', Like the fight scene? If you review, I'll make sure you get a shoutout. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW. Tell me your thoughts, how I can make this story better, how can I fix the mistakes? Please leave some constructive criticism and leave a character profile. Just Imagine how cool it would be to see your character in my story. Pretty cool aye! Also I would love to see how you think the story should process. You never know, your idea might appear**

 *****SPOLIERS*** (If you've read the original, you pretty much know what's going to happen.)**

\- **A name**

\- **A Nickname**

\- **An age**

\- **The relationship to Harrison**

\- **A short brief about their Childhood**

\- **Their relationship status**

\- **And how they got recruited into the army**


	3. Choice

**Chapter 3 – Choice**

 **Well, ready for chapter 3? How's the story going? So, this chapter will be introducing the three main supporting characters. Please say what you think about them. As always, I'd like to do a quick shoutout to:**

\- **Stingray**

\- **LordPublisher**

\- **54**

 **Anyway, let's get into it.**

The Isle of Berk was divided into 2 parts. The Great Hall was the main money maker. You could always find at least half of the tables full, at any time of the day. The other part of The Isle of Berk was 'The Dockyards'. It was a crummy take-away shop that Gobber had opened after he made his fortune with 'The Great Hall'. According to him, everyone always started off there, before getting promoted to a waiter or waitress at 'The Great Hall'. Gobber had called Astrid over and asked her to show Harrison around, but she took one look at him and said she was too busy before storming off with a scowl melted on her face. But Gobber took it in his stride. Harrison was beginning to like his new boss. He was always jolly and nothing ever fazed him. After signing the papers, Gobber took Harrison into 'The Dockyards'. He told Harrison to be here tomorrow at 9:00 and he can start work with the other new recruits. Harrison left feeling happy, with his uniform in his backpack. For once in his life, he felt happy and excited about his new job.

Harrison didn't know where to go. He decided to risk and see if his father was home. It was a ten-minute walk between 'The isle of Berk' and his place. While he was walking, he decided to practise for tomorrow.

"Hello, how can I help you?" Harrison asked himself. "Would you like to place an order?"

He was nervous and excited about tomorrow, never having done anything like this before.

When he got to his house, his spirits rose as he saw his father's Shelby Mustang was gone. It was his work car meaning he wouldn't be home for the few days. He didn't have a key, but his father was a forgetful old sod, who always kept a spare key under the garden gnome. He smiled as he lifted the gnome and saw the key under it. He was looking forward to a good night's sleep after last night.

* * *

Harrison decided to set a good example for his boss and arrived 10 minutes early. He tapped on the glass door at the front of 'The Dockyards'. He noticed a young woman mopping the floor inside. He banged on the door.

"We don't serve breakfast at this branch," the woman shouted as she looked at her watch.

Harrison shook his head. "I'm starting today."

"What?" the woman asked, cupping her hand to the glass.

"I'm working here," Harrison repeated.

The girl smiled and pointed to the staff entrance. "Go around and ask for Spitelout."

"Thanks," Harrison smiled, giving the thumbs up.

Harrison walked through the staff entrance and into 'The Dockyards'. The tiled floor was covered in muddy footprints and the massive freezer was making an unhealthy noise.

"Hello," Harrison said, putting on his politest voice. "Anyone in here?"

Harrison gasped. He knew the face. Spitelout Jorgenson. It was Scott's Father.

"Ahhhhh, here's the man of the hour. Harrison Haddock. I want you to know son, I expext only the best from you."

Harrison gulped. He was more imitating than his son. "Yes sir."

"We'll wait for the other two, then I'll start my little introduction."

Harrison wondered who the other two were. Spitelout told him to take a quick look around. Harrison looked at his watch. 9:00, 9:10, 9:20. It was nearly 9:30 when the other two waltzed in.

'Morning boss," the man said. Harrison studied him. He looked roughly 18, he was extremely well built with a handsome face and scruffy brown hair. The girl next to him had long brown hair, a pretty face and long tanned legs. She looked a little younger at about 17. Harrison would later find out the man's name was Mason and the girls was Sami.

"Afternoon," Spitelout said sarcastically as he glanced at his watch. "Nice of you to stop by. Weren't you due here half an hour ago?"

Mason waved his hand in front of his face. "There's only one bus an hour and it was running late."

"I'd appreciate it if you could get the early one tomorrow. Your training takes place on top of everything else," Spitelout said snidely.

Mason shook his head. "Why don't you take it out of our wages? Oh wait, its work experience."

Sami gave Mason a harsh look and whispered, "Don't start."

"This is the place of food preparation," Spitelout said pompously. "The golden rule is Hygiene, Hygiene, Hygiene. If the food isn't cooked according to 'The Dockyard's' guidelines, the result could be a nasty backlash of bad publicity and a hefty fine. I want you to put your uniforms on then clean yourself up. Grab a workbook and I want you to complete the questions. Report me once you're done."

Mason gave the thumbs up. "Super cool," He said.

Ten minutes later, Mason, Sami and Harrison sat in a table in the shop. They each had a pencil and a workbook with a boat pulling away from the docks on the cover and the logo 'Welcome to the dockyards'.

"Okay, Sami, see if you can handle this one," Mason said, before reading aloud in an upbeat America accent. "You have now read the section on safety and hygiene. Now please answer the following 10 questions. Number one, after using the restroom, all staff must: A) Turn out bathroom lights, B) Return to work as quickly as possible or C) Carefully wash and dry their hands using soap and hot water. Which one do you think?"

Harrison had quickly realised that Mason was a joker. He managed to figure out that Mason and Sami were new recruits of the Australian Army. According to Sami, it was in their contracts that they had to do at least 100 hours work experience.

Sami tutted. "Mason, stop pissing about. We just got here."

"Its soooooo lame," he said, before reading out another question. "If you find a spillage in the customer area, should you: A) Place a safety warning cone over the site of the spillage? B) Ignore it because it's not your responsibility or C) Pull down your pants, grab your ankles and do a huge shit in the puddle?"

Sami kept silent.

"I made that last one up by the way."

'You never grow up do you Mason? If you get fired from this, the drill instructors will have you run the assault course till you throw up. Then we'll have to listen to poor old Mason whinging about how unfair his life is."

'Come on Sami, only you could take this seriously. This book has been used by fifty other people. You can even see where their answers have been rubbed out."

Sami managed a smile. "The disturbing thing is that quite a few people had got them wrong.

As Harrison and Mason started to crack up, the waitress that Harrison had saw earlier in the morning walked over. Her badge said "Heather".

"Sorry," Harrison said, wrapping a hand over his smile. "Didn't mean to disturb you."

Heather raised an eyebrow. "From cleaning? Don't sweat it on my account. There's two things you need to know working here. First is Spitelout is a miserable idiot. That's because he's 48 and his wife left him for a twenty something actor, leaving him and his son. The second is all the urban myths about people dropping food on the floor and spitting gum in the deep fryers are all true, especially if I'm doing the cooking."

Mason laughed and reached to shake Heathers hand. "You sound like my type of person."

* * *

A week later, Mason and Harrison had become good mates. Harrison looked forward to work every day because it meant he got to be with his mates. He never had friends in school, but now he knew what he was missing. Every day, a warm feeling would start bubbling in his stomach when he saw Mason, Sami or Heather. It was approaching the end of their shift and him and Sami were the only ones doing anything. Mason and Heather were both playing Poker at the back of the store on upturned buckets. Spitelout came out of his office.

"Excellent job Sami, you really know how to work," Spitelout said, standing creepily close to Sami before turning in Harrison direction

Spitelout turned to Harrison. "Let's see a bit more work out of you tomorrow, Harrison. Alright, off you go."'

As soon as he uttered these words, Mason and Heather shot out of the back room and out the doors, leaving Harrison and Sami in their trails.

Sami smiled. "We better catch them."

Sami and Harrison caught up to them at the doors.

"So, what are we up to this arvo Harrison?" Mason asked him.

"I dunno. Might buy lunch or something. There's a computer world across the street. I might pop over for a quick browse."

Sami smiled. "Never pegged you for a computer geek."

"I'm not," Harrison said defensively. "Just. . .. I've saved some money up from working. Might see if there's any half decent computer games."

"Suit yourself," Mason said. "If you want, I'm meeting a few mates at 'The Great Hall', if you want, you can tag along."

"Strolling the shops alone didn't seem very appealing to Harrison especially since Scott was still out for revenge (he thanked his lucky stars that Spitelout hadn't told his son where Harrison was working), so he ended up strolling with Mason, Sami and Heather back into The Isle of Berk and straight into The Great Hall. He looked around, hoping to see Astrid. Harrison thought for a second. He suddenly realised, he didn't care. Astrid had ignored him his whole life, why should he care. He had new friends and he didn't need Astrid in his life. Harrison nodded. He had made the right choice.

"Food smells alright," Sami said, taking in her surroundings.

Heather looked surprised. "You haven't been here before?"

Sami shook her head. "Looks pretty good though."

Mason nodded. "Sting, Dutchie and Teddy are here," he said, referring to the three men sitting down at the table to their right.

"Who?" Harrison asked.

"They're my squad mates. They are passing through Berk, on their way to Sydney."

The man Mason called Sting stood up and shook Harrisons hand. "Names Christopher Woods," He said in a strong British accent. "Please to meet you lad."

Teddy nodded to Harrison and spoke in an ordinary aussie accent. "Terrence Trason is the name," he said, before banging his elbow down on the table. "All right Sting, stop stalling. Time to put your money where your very large mouth is."

As Harrison, Mason, Sami and Heather found seats around the table, they noticed a small pile of coins between Sting and Teddy.

"Ever arm-wrestled before, Harrison?" Sami asked.

"I've seen it," Harrison replied.

The man called Dutchie was acting as referee, and knelt at the end of the tables as Teddy and Sting gripped each other's hands and eyed each other up. Where's Teddy and Sting looked about 19 or 20, Dutchie looked a lot older, at about 30.

"Ready?" He asked, with a Dutch accent. "Three, two, one, Wrestle."

Sting and Teddy's faces contorted as they tried pinning the others hand to the table. Sting had the early advantage, but Teddy had the stamina. It took half a minute, but Teddy shot up and yelled to celebrate his victory.

"You suck!" Teddy shouted. "It's my money."

Sting took his loss in good humour. They sat around talking after they ordered. While waiting, Harrison found out that Sting, Dutchie, Teddy and Mason were all in the same squad. They had all completed training together and they were waiting for their orders. They all speculated where they would be posted, but they had no idea. Sami was in the Royal Australian Airforce. After passing training, she had flown two resupplying missions to Afghanization, but yet to engage in aerial combat.

Heather was a pretty ordinary person. After completing high school, she started working at the Dockyards to save money for university. She wanted to study Law, but she just hadn't found the time to enrol.

Mason was a little drunk and everyone burst out laughing when Sami slapped him after attempting to flirt with her.

'Mason!" said an impatient looking chef, holding up the steak he ordered. "Stop chatting up the girls and come get your dinner."

* * *

 _Four weeks later. . . ._

Harrison's phones ringtone echoed around his bedroom. The alarm clock on his nightstand read – 23:40. His father still hadn't returned. Over the past four weeks, Harrison had slowly turned his room into a tip and he scrambled around looking for his phone. He eventually found it under a sweaty jumper.

"Hello," Harrison said dopily.

"Wakey wakey, hands off snakey," Mason's voice echoed from his phone.

"What the hell, Mason?" Its Midnight."

"Sorry bruh. My orders came through. We're getting deployed next week. They want me down me down in Sydney for briefing. Sorry mate, but my flight leaves at one in the morning. I gotta move. I'll call you later eh?"

"Sure," Harrison said.

"Sweet bro, talk to you soon."

Harrison sighed as Mason ended the call. Heather had quit work, and Sami got deployed two weeks ago. Mason and Harrison had been bumming around Berk, waiting. Now Mason was gone, Harrison was all alone. Again. What was here for Harrison? Had no family that cared about him, no friends who lived here anymore, he had a crummy job and a bully who was still hunting him. There was nothing here for Harrison. So, what was stopping him from leaving. He earned enough for a trip around Australia. But to what end? Blow all his hard-earned money on one trip. After that, he'd be broke, homeless and hungry. He needed a place that would provide accommodation, pay him and feed him. Harrison laughed. Not one place on earth would do that. Suddenly it hit him like a brick. Mason, Sami, Teddy, Dutchie and Sting. They all had one thing in common. How could he have missed it? The one thing that would solve all his problems. The Australian Army….

 **IT'S A TRAP! Just kidding. IT'S A WRAP. There we go. So, how'd I go? Did you enjoy it? Nearly 2500 words, pretty hefty.** **Please review and tell me your thoughts. Anyway, how was that? Better or worst then the second chapter? If you review, I'll make sure you get a shoutout.**

 **I noticed you don't like the way Harrison has a crush on Astrid. Please tell me how you think I can fix it.**

 **I also added a few characters to this story. Tell me about them please.**

 **PLEASE REVIEW. Tell me your thoughts, how I can make this story better, how can I fix the mistakes? Please leave some constructive criticism and leave a character profile. Just Imagine how cool it would be to see your character in my story. Pretty cool aye! Also, I would love to see how you think the story should process. You never know, your idea might appear**

 *****SPOLIERS*** (If you've read the original, you pretty much know what's going to happen.)**

\- **A name**

\- **A Nickname**

\- **An age**

\- **The relationship to Harrison**

\- **A short brief about their Childhood**

\- **Their relationship status**

\- **And how they got recruited into the army**


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